Downloading OS X Mavericks (10.9) in 2025
So a little bit of background.....
I was playing about with some old Macs that I have one of which is a Mac mini (Late 2012) Macmini6,2 as detailed below.
On performing an internet recovery I was surprised to see that it was restoring OS X Mavericks 10.9 - which as far as I knew was not on the apple servers.
So after a bit of digging , I stopped the recovery and created an Image of the Base OS System.
Then by installing the OS to a USB but not allowing it to reboot , I had a USB called , Install Mac OS.
Between the two I was able to find the InstallESD.dmg and the full Packages Folder.
This SHOULD have been easy to restore the base system to a USB and the copy the packages over but , the InstallESD.dmg didn't have the hidden BaseOS.DMG file in the contents. (Weird)
So I grabbed the Base System from an old installer for Mavericks that I had , restored that , then copied the Packages , and that worked , a Mavericks Installer in 2025 , BUT , only with using an existing BaseOS.DMG.
Hopefully someone with better knowledge of apple installer partitions and layouts , can make something use of this.
ANYWAY......
But this got me thinking it MUST still be on the Apple Servers 'Somewhere"!!
So I dug out a old Mac mini (Mid 2011) MacMini5,1 and installed OS X Yosemite to it.
Installed the updates.
Logged into App Store Using my Credentials.
Found my previous download of OS X Mavericks
Pressed Download
Said Yes I wanted to download it , even though I had a newer OS installed.
And to my surprise it downloaded the Full 5.36GB Install OS Mavericks.app file.
After this it was a simple case of using one of the many methods to create a bootable installer.
The one I used was the --Createmedia option.
Conclusion : Yes you can download OS X Mavericks in 2025 , Method 1 : Use a compatible machine and faff about with Internet Recovery. or Method 2 : Use an old OS that shows Installers in your past purchases (I used Yosemite on a 2011 Mac mini) and hope you downloaded it from the App Store back in 2013 or whenever it was available.
Credit goes to my son Richey , who first stumbled across the Internet Recovery method.
Mac mini (Late 2012)
Family no.
A1347
EMC no.
2570
Parts for this Mac...
Core i7 2.3GHz
Order no.
MD388LL/A
Machine ID
Macmini6,2
Introduced
23 Oct 2012
Discontinued
16 Oct 2014
Manufactured
18 Mar 2014 Quanta Computer, China (Susidiary = Tech Com)
Weight
1.220 kg
Dimensions
3.56 x 19.56 x 19.56 cm
2.3 GHz
Processor
1 (4 Cores) x Core i7 (I7-3615QM)
Memory slots
2 x PC3-12800 DDR3
Built-in Mem
None
Max memory
16 GB
Battery
N/A
Original OS
X 10.8.1 (12B2080)
Last supported OS
Current
HD Graphics 4000 (512 MB)
2nd display
Dual/Mirroring
Max external resolution
2560x1600
4 (3.0)
FireWire ports
1 (800)
Ethernet
10/100/1000Base-T
Airport type
802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth type
4.0
2.5" Serial ATA (6 Gb/s)
Capacity
1 TB HDD
Optical drive
None
Expansion
SD Card (SDXC)
So a little bit of background.....
I was playing about with some old Macs that I have one of which is a Mac mini (Late 2012) Macmini6,2 as detailed below.
On performing an internet recovery I was surprised to see that it was restoring OS X Mavericks 10.9 - which as far as I knew was not on the apple servers.
So after a bit of digging , I stopped the recovery and created an Image of the Base OS System.
Then by installing the OS to a USB but not allowing it to reboot , I had a USB called , Install Mac OS.
Between the two I was able to find the InstallESD.dmg and the full Packages Folder.
This SHOULD have been easy to restore the base system to a USB and the copy the packages over but , the InstallESD.dmg didn't have the hidden BaseOS.DMG file in the contents. (Weird)
So I grabbed the Base System from an old installer for Mavericks that I had , restored that , then copied the Packages , and that worked , a Mavericks Installer in 2025 , BUT , only with using an existing BaseOS.DMG.
Hopefully someone with better knowledge of apple installer partitions and layouts , can make something use of this.
ANYWAY......
But this got me thinking it MUST still be on the Apple Servers 'Somewhere"!!
So I dug out a old Mac mini (Mid 2011) MacMini5,1 and installed OS X Yosemite to it.
Installed the updates.
Logged into App Store Using my Credentials.
Found my previous download of OS X Mavericks
Pressed Download
Said Yes I wanted to download it , even though I had a newer OS installed.
And to my surprise it downloaded the Full 5.36GB Install OS Mavericks.app file.
After this it was a simple case of using one of the many methods to create a bootable installer.
The one I used was the --Createmedia option.
Conclusion : Yes you can download OS X Mavericks in 2025 , Method 1 : Use a compatible machine and faff about with Internet Recovery. or Method 2 : Use an old OS that shows Installers in your past purchases (I used Yosemite on a 2011 Mac mini) and hope you downloaded it from the App Store back in 2013 or whenever it was available.
Credit goes to my son Richey , who first stumbled across the Internet Recovery method.
Range Info
Apple RangeMac mini (Late 2012)
Family no.
A1347
EMC no.
2570
Parts for this Mac...
Model Info
ConfigurationCore i7 2.3GHz
Order no.
MD388LL/A
Machine ID
Macmini6,2
Introduced
23 Oct 2012
Discontinued
16 Oct 2014
Manufactured
18 Mar 2014 Quanta Computer, China (Susidiary = Tech Com)
Weight
1.220 kg
Dimensions
3.56 x 19.56 x 19.56 cm
Specifications
CPU Speed2.3 GHz
Processor
1 (4 Cores) x Core i7 (I7-3615QM)
Memory slots
2 x PC3-12800 DDR3
Built-in Mem
None
Max memory
16 GB
Battery
N/A
Original OS
X 10.8.1 (12B2080)
Last supported OS
Current
Graphics & Imaging
Graphics procHD Graphics 4000 (512 MB)
2nd display
Dual/Mirroring
Max external resolution
2560x1600
Ports
USB ports4 (3.0)
FireWire ports
1 (800)
Ethernet
10/100/1000Base-T
Airport type
802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth type
4.0
Drives & Expansion
Storage type2.5" Serial ATA (6 Gb/s)
Capacity
1 TB HDD
Optical drive
None
Expansion
SD Card (SDXC)
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